Chelsea coach Marco Ianni has been fined £6,000 for his role in the fracas that occurred towards the end of the game between the Blues and Manchester United earlier this month. The 36 year old, who was brought to Stamford Bridge by new Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri (the pair had worked together at Sarri’s previous club Napoli), admitted to a charge of “improper conduct”. Mourinho was reprimanded by the FA as well, but no fine was imposed on him Continue reading “Chelsea coach fined for goading Jose Mourinho”

West Ham are one of the clubs being linked with a winter move for Porto winger Yacine Brahimi. The Hammers were interested in him in the summer as well, but a move didn’t materialise, but with the Algerian star out of contract at the end of the 2018/19 season, Porto are said to be ready to listen to offers.

Spain have appointed Luis Enrique as their new manager. La Roja sacked previous boss Julien Lopetegui just days before the commencement of the 2018 World Cup after he had been announced as Real Madrid manager, leading to Fernando Hierro being appointed as caretaker for the duration of the tournament.

Under Hierro, Spain made it out of Group B, although not as convincingly as they might have liked, drawing with Portugal and Morocco and edging Iran for their solitary triumph. That earned them a Round of 16 clash against hosts Russia, where they created a record for passes, but it didn’t get them the goals they needed, and they were eventually knocked out on penalties.

SFF president Luis Rubiales, who had a key hand in Lopetegui’s sacking, said that they had only talked with Enrique for the job. The former Barca and Real Madrid star apparently had more lucrative offers in England, but has chosen to remain his native country.

Enrique’s first game will be against England at Wembley in September, and his first task will be to ensure that Spain qualify for Euro 2020. He has inked a two year contract with the national federation.

According to sources in the Spanish media, Barcelona will let French defender Lucas Digne go this summer and bring in another backup at left back to Jordi Alba. Digne, an extremely capable player in his own right, hasn’t been able to dislodge Alba, and it’s probably a case of “too good to be a backup player, but not good enough to displace Alba” for the French international, who moved to the Nou Camp in the summer of 2016 after stints with Lille and PSG in his native France and a period on loan with AS Roma Continue reading “Lucas Digne to leave Barcelona? Blaugrana to transfer list defender in summer”

Turkey, who are bidding to host Euro 2024, have today unveiled the logo and slogan for their bid to host the quadrennial extravaganza. Turkey lost to France by a single vote for Euro 2016 and will be competing with Germany for the rights to host Euro 2024 (the only two countries to apply)

The Turks failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, and Istanbul lost out on the 2020 Olympics to Tokyo, making this a pretty important bid for the nation. Euro 2020 will be held across different cities in various countries Continue reading “Turkey Euro 2024 Logo Unveiled”